Politics
Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators began a second round of US-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, while Russian strikes continued, killing seven in Donetsk.
The Metropolitan Police opened a criminal investigation into former British minister Peter Mandelson over allegations he shared Downing Street emails and market-sensitive information with Jeffrey Epstein.
Palestinian authorities said Israeli strikes killed at least 17 people in Gaza and that Israel halted patient crossings at Rafah; the Israeli military said it struck after soldiers were shot.
President Donald Trump insulted CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins in the Oval Office after she pressed him about Jeffrey Epstein, ridiculing her appearance and dismissing the question, multiple outlets reported.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a proposal to ban social media for under-16s and tighten platform accountability to protect children, prompting Elon Musk to call him "tyrant" and "traitor".
Tom Homan, President Trump's border czar, announced an immediate withdrawal of 700 ICE and CBP officers from Minneapolis, citing improved local cooperation while roughly 2,000 federal agents remained.
President Trump urged the federal "nationalization" of U.S. elections, including deploying federal agents to count votes, prompting alarm from state election officials and critics who called the proposal illegal.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer ordered release of files on Peter Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the US amid mounting questions about Mandelson’s links to Jeffrey Epstein.
The New START treaty between the United States and Russia expired, ending limits on their strategic nuclear arsenals and prompting experts and lawmakers to warn of a renewed arms race.
Iran insisted indirect talks with the United States would be held in Oman on Friday and confined to its nuclear programme, Tehran said, after Washington shot down an Iranian drone.
EU governments agreed Wednesday to a €90 billion loan for Ukraine and to terms allowing British companies limited access after Germany and the Netherlands overcame French opposition.
Renée Good’s brothers testified at a Capitol Hill forum and urged Congress to rein in ICE’s immigration-enforcement tactics after her fatal shooting in Minneapolis.
President Donald Trump ordered installation of a restored Christopher Columbus statue on the White House grounds, reintroducing a monument toppled during 2020 protests as a cultural-political symbol.
The Bundesnachrichtendienst said Russia had increased military spending by up to 66% over its official defense budget, expanding capabilities near NATO’s eastern flank.
Commentators warned that Donald Trump's second-term actions undermined the postwar rule-based international order, urging nations to bolster competitiveness and pursue technological alternatives such as AI.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said ICE agents sent to the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics would have no operational role, saying they were there only for analysis and information exchange.
Poland accused Russia of attacking its electricity grid, and NATO officials said the strikes represented a dangerous escalation of conflict with alliance members.
President Donald Trump sought to buy Greenland, prompting diplomatic tensions with Denmark and the EU and sparking concerns about economic fallout, including rising Swiss gold imports.
Libyan officials said Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the 53-year-old son of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, was shot dead at his home in Zintan, southwest of Tripoli.
Human Rights Watch said its annual report found the United States under President Donald Trump had moved toward authoritarianism and, alongside Russia and China, imperiled the rules-based international order.
Italy accused Russia of cyberattacks on websites linked to the 2026 Winter Olympics, and organizers said ski-alpine competitions nevertheless remained on schedule.
Swedish government proposed a new municipal veto on uranium mining to calm fears that the existing municipal veto would lapse this summer, Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari said.
President Trump withdrew 700 federal immigration agents from Minnesota, his border chief Tom Homan said, ending a deployment that had supported state immigration enforcement in Minneapolis.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said authorities foiled Russian-linked cyberattacks targeting Italian embassies and hotels in Paris, London, Washington, Sydney and Toronto.
AfD leader Björn Höcke failed to unseat Thuringia's Minister-President Mario Voigt in a constructive no-confidence vote in the Landtag, though Höcke received one outside vote.
President Donald Trump insisted his planned White House ballroom would match the mansion’s height, even as review panels, a federal judge and preservationists urged the project be reduced.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro met U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House and gave him a list of major drug traffickers living outside Colombia, naming Dubai, Madrid and Miami.
President Trump said India would stop buying Russian oil, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi was silent and analysts said India’s heavy reliance on Russian crude made an immediate halt unlikely.
Sächsischer AfD-Landtagsabgeordneter Jörg Dornau wurde im Landtag festgesetzt, nachdem die Immunität aufgehoben und Zollfahnder wegen mutmaßlicher Verstöße gegen das Außenwirtschaftsgesetz und EU-Sanktionsumgehung seine Räume durchsucht hatten.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told Parliament US ICE agents in Italy lacked operational authority and would only share information, rejecting sovereignty concerns before the Milan‑Cortina Games.
Germany and U.S. lawmakers moved to ease housing shortages, with Berlin consolidating federal housing subsidies into two programs and Congress proposed bipartisan incentives to spur construction.
German authorities arrested two men in Hamburg accused of sabotaging German navy warships, and Greek police detained a Greek national who awaited extradition on related sabotage charges.
President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would keep its cancer-plan budget unchanged through 2030 and pilot an organized lung cancer screening for up to 20,000 people in coming weeks.
The British House of Lords voted to ban mobile phones in schools, sending the amendment to the Labour-dominated House of Commons, while the opposition said government guidance remained too weak.
Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz reiste nach Saudi-Arabien, Katar und in die Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate, um Rüstungs- und Energiekooperationen zu stärken; Opposition und NGOs forderten, Menschenrechtsverletzungen anzusprechen.
United States reactivated the African Growth and Opportunity Act, restoring duty-free access for 30 African countries and extending the program through December 31, 2026.
On Tuesday in Paris, prosecutors sought five years' ineligibility and a prison term for Marine Le Pen in the appeal over alleged misuse of FN assistants' funds.
President Donald Trump signed a budget package in Washington on Tuesday, ending a four-day government shutdown, his second of the term.
Donald Trump urged the U.S. government to nationalize state elections ahead of midterms after losses in Texas, prompting concerns about centralized power and claims of fraud.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called a snap parliamentary election for Sunday to try to expand her LDP majority, a high-stakes gamble critics said could imperil her political future.
Greek authorities activated a crisis-management protocol and deployed forensic teams to Chios after a migrant shipwreck, while the European Commission backed Athens' jurisdiction and Turkey issued a NOTAM.
During a videoconference Wednesday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin said their Moscow–Beijing alliance was a stabilizing force and pledged to deepen cooperation.
U.S. aid cuts under the Trump administration forced U.N. and aid agencies to shrink rations and close health centers in Sudan and Afghanistan, worsening hunger and displacement.
The German government rejected EU parliamentarians' calls to boycott the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico over U.S. threats to Greenland and FIFA's prize for Donald Trump.
Former general Roberto Vannacci quit Italy's Lega and joined Futuro Nazionale, prompting Matteo Salvini to call him "ungrateful" and claim his EU seat belonged to the party.
A congressional standoff over Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics threatened a new partial government shutdown as Democrats demanded Republicans accept accountability measures to rein in agency personnel.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told the Senate authorities should impose preventive detention after clashes in Turin during a pro‑Askatasuna march, while a 22‑year‑old suspect was put under house arrest.
Human rights groups and independent experts estimated that Iran’s security forces killed between about 3,000 and 30,000 protesters, far exceeding official counts.
Three U.S. warships — USS Stockdale, USCGC Stone and USCGC Diligence — arrived off Port-au-Prince, Haiti, as part of Operation Southern Spear, the U.S. embassy said.
